Culinary Characters Unlocked

By Culinary Characters Unlocked

Emmy Winner, International Acclaimed Journalist, Executive Producer, Food & Travel Lover, and Creator of the Beloved show “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives” David Page takes us deep into the world of... more

Download on the App Store

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

FAQs about Culinary Characters Unlocked:

How many episodes does Culinary Characters Unlocked have?

The podcast currently has 81 episodes available.

Culinary Characters Unlocked episodes:

January 13, 2026 Husband and wife restaurateurs Bethany and chef Dano Heinze on winning a Michelin star at their Charleston restaurant, why it isn’t fine dining, and how they set such a high bar at an affordable neighborhood favorite
Bethany and Dano Heinze recently received a Michelin star for their Charleston Restaurant Vern’s. He’s the chef. She handles front of the house and a superb wine program built around little-known family-owned vineyards. Their innovative seasonal menu features unique presentations of local produce and charcoal-grilled proteins sourced straight
from the farm. They’ve been working together for years — first under Sean Brock at the groundbreaking McCrady’s in Charleston, then at the legendary Animal in L.A. Now back in Charleston, they’re making a major impact on that renowned culinary city.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
49min
January 06, 2026 14-time Michelin star winning chef Ken Frank on pioneering California cuisine, his legendary battles with restaurant owners, and winning a Michelin star 14 times at his own restaurant
Ken Frank was a pioneer in the creation of fresh and local California cuisine as a young chef in Los Angeles. He became famous not just for his food but also for standing up to and calling out restaurant owners he says didn’t live up to his standards. He’s won a Michelin star 14 times at his own restaurant in the Napa Valley, where he’s still in the kitchen five days a week. And he’s become America’s leading truffle chef, with a lot to say about the allure of that fungus and why truffle oil is an abomination.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
44min
December 30, 2025 Food trends for the new year from the woman major corporations rely on for culinary info and insights—industry analyst (and classically trained chef) Maeve Webster
Maeve Webster is the woman big companies rely on to understand what’s happening—and what’s about to happen—in the culinary world. A trained chef and former café owner, she is president of the culinary research firm Menu Matters and in this episode she predicts the next hot cuisine—not one you might expect, explains how restaurateurs have gone wrong chasing trends, why consumers are becoming bored with restaurant
menus, and calls for a return to hospitality in the hospitality business at the
same time she advises restaurant owners to simply tell some diners, “No, we can’t give you what you want.”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
41min
December 23, 2025 Master Mixologist Mariena Mercer Boarini on the hottest drink trends, the explosion in mocktails, and her time as a “Tequila Goddess”
Mariena Mercer Boarini invents 300 cocktails a year as Master Mixologist for Wynn Resorts, North America. She supervises the drinks programs at nearly 40 venues at Wynn’s flagship in Las Vegas, treating drinks as culinary creations, collaborating with chefs to match drinks with specific dishes, and often employing incredible molecular gastronomy techniques. She explains some of her best loved cocktails, how and why mocktails are exploding, what’s hot now and what to expect in the future, and talks about her time as a "Tequila Goddess" and wining an international mixology championship.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
36min
December 16, 2025 Chef Darian Bryan on pioneering Jamaican fine dining in the US, becoming a personal chef for Buffalo Bills MVP quarterback Josh Allen, and proving the doubters wrong
Born in Jamaica, now living in Buffalo, NY, Chef Darian Bryan has elevated
Jamaican cuisine to the fine dining level at his restaurant, and through his
work as a private chef. He has also amassed a roster of Buffalo Bills NFL
players including MVP Qquarterback Josh Allen as clients, as an in-home private chef, preparing ready-to-heat meals, and as a special event caterer. He is engaging, entertaining, and an inspiration—from a childhood of poverty without electricity or running water to a first job in America at Denny’s, to shining in culinary school, to successful chef and restaurateur.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
39min
December 09, 2025 Eater Editor-In-Chief Stephanie Wu on the newest trends in American food, what’s ahead, the Eater 38, and what it’s like being the person so many Americans rely on to decide where – and what – to eat
Eater Editor-In-Chief Stephanie Wu is probably the most influential
person in American food. She was raised in the Taiwan capital of Taipei, one of the world’s great food cities. After college in New York, she began a meteoric magazine career that now sees her in charge of the editorial content at Eater, which just celebrated its 20th anniversary, and has grown from a single blog focused on dining in New York to an online culinary juggernaut with a national edition, multiple city editions, and a host of related media ventures. She sees her mission as helping Americans find their next great meal and this episode is filled with unique knowledge, insights, and predictions about every facet of American dining that only she can provide.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
49min
December 02, 2025 Food and Wine Best New Chef Jordan Rubin on the unique sushi restaurant he started as a food cart and combining sushi tradition with bold and unexpected flavors
Chef Jordan Rubin got into sushi by accident when the sushi chef’s
assistant didn’t show up for work at the restaurant where he was making salads. From there, he’s worked his way up to owning his own sushi restaurant, Mr. Tuna and being named a 2025 Best New Chef by Food & Wine. That climb began when he turned a hot dog cart into a sushi cart and began peddling sushi and sashimi on the streets of Portland, Maine. He says he wants to offer something for everyone – including untraditional flavors and sushi burritos—while focusing on the freshest, highest quality, sustainable seafood prepared in the most traditional Japanese way.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
41min
November 25, 2025 Master of the Turducken Matt Rebhan on creating the ultimate Thanksgiving item, three generations in the food biz, and how to pick and cook the perfect steak.
Matt Rebhan is the third-generation owner of his family’s Alpine Steakhouse and Butcher Shop in Sarasota, Florida. And a master of making the turducken – a turkey stuffed with a chicken, stuffed with a duck, which runs circles around a plain ol’ turkey for Thanksgiving. He first got national exposure for his turducken on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives back in
2007 and now sells hundreds each holiday season. He’s also got plenty to say about red meat – what to buy and how to cook it – and the challenges of the restaurant business today.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
35min
November 18, 2025 Cousins Jared Rouben and Jeremy Cohn on adding a restaurant to their brewery – and winning a Michelin Star
A Michelin starred brewery! Cousins Jared Rouben (a graduate of both
culinary school and brewing school) and Jeremy Cohn, a Wharton business grad, began by opening Moody Tongue Brewing in Chicago, then expanded into restaurants. The one they run above their brewery, featuring a hyper-seasonal tasting menu with a beer pairing for each course, has earned a Michelin star. And their sushi restaurant in West Palm Beach, Florida got a Michelin Guide recommendation.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
33min
November 11, 2025 Chef Amy Mehrtens on cooking at a New Orleans legend, then moving on to run a NOLA kitchen of her own and getting creative with that city’s classics
Growing up in a military family, Chef Amy Mehrtens explored new tastes in
various places around the world. She trained at the Culinary Institute of America, then worked her way up to Sous Chef at the legendary Commander’s Palace in New Orleans. She is now Executive Chef at Copper Vine in NOLA, where she is expanding her repertoire beyond traditional New Orleans standards and going beyond the dining room to cater to guests at the newly opened inn attached to the restaurant.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
...more
36min

FAQs about Culinary Characters Unlocked:

How many episodes does Culinary Characters Unlocked have?

The podcast currently has 81 episodes available.